University of Iowa President Considers “Dial Down” of Enrollment Numbers

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University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld speaks to the Board of Regents in Iowa City (Roger Riley WHO-HD)

IOWA CITY, Iowa- University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld told the Board of Regents the University may consider “dialing down” its growth. The University’s fall enrollment is at 33,334 students, with a new incoming freshman class of 5600 students.

We may actually dial things down a little bit and go a little bit smaller through time,” said Harreld.

Harreld said his comment came as the University is trying to address faculty compensation. He said growing bigger would cause some problems in meeting that goal.

“The size were at is fully utilized, and I think quite well,” said Harreld. “ I think our faculty is well utilized, I think our staff is right sized.”

The U of I President added that a new dorm will come on-line in the fall.

“Taking a major leap, saying we’re going to be a lot larger, I think would potentially be a really serious mistake,” said Harreld. “I would say somewhere between 5400 and 5600 would be a good class size.”

“I just don’t see why I don’t see the point of it,” said Colin Horvath, a University of Iowa Student from Libertyville, Illinois. “I feel like we could definitely have a lot more kids were building a lot more dorms.”

“I already have smaller classes so like we could grow a little more and it would be fine,” said Katie Robbins, of Libertyville, IL. “I feel like it wouldn’t really matter that much if we grew a little bit more.”

Iowa State University has another new record enrollment of 36,660. Iowa State University President Steven Leath is not seeking to scale back enrollment, but he did say the 2 per cent operating budget increase they are asking for is really not enough.

Earlier Regent Pro-Tem Katie Mulholland proposed the regents begin a 2 year budget cycle as a way to avoid last-minute changes when the legislature funding comes in late. The Regents will consider a 2 per cent tuition increase in each of the two-year calendar.

“We want to provide as much predictability and transparency as possible to the students and their families,” said Katie Mulholland, Regent President Pro-Tem. “This will allow for better long-term planning for those families and students as well as the for the regents.”